


A new addition to the family

by Starliam



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21861031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starliam/pseuds/Starliam
Summary: Bates and Anna are expecting another child, but they are having some problems. Surprisingly, guess who is going to help them...To be canon compliant, this story is set in 1927, after the movie.
Relationships: Anna Bates/John Bates
Kudos: 70





	1. A scare

"No, I can do it", smiled Anna, before getting up for the chair in the servant's hall where she was quietly sewing. But, after just a couple of steps, she grimaced, bringing a hand to her belly.  
"What is it, Anna?" asked Mrs, Hughes, alarmed.  
"No, nothing, it's..." Then, Anna's glance went to the floor, where she saw some drops of blood. She instantly paled. "Oh. no! I..."  
Mrs. Hughes stood instantly, followed by Ms. Baxter. "Sit, Anna," ordered gently the housekeeper, slowly pushing Anna back on the chair.  
The blonde maid started crying. "I lost it! I lost it again!" she sobbed. Mrs. Hughes hugged her, trying to calm her down. Then, she told Ms. Baxter to telephone Dr. Clarkson. Thomas, pale and surprised, was still on his feet, unable to think what he could do. Again, Mrs. Hughes took the matter in her hands. "Mr. Barrow, please, go search for Mr. Bates". The butler nodded, and quickly left. 

Thomas knew that Bates was probably in Lord Grantham's dressing room, because he had to check if some of the summer suits needed to be fixed in advance. He was right: when he knocked on the door, Bates opened it, raising his eyebrows at the sight of the butler. "Mr. Barrow? Do you need something?"  
Thomas swallowed. "No... I came to fetch you, Mr. Bates. Anna is in the servant's hall, she doesn't feel well. We called for Dr. Clarkson".  
Bates quickly got out of the room, walking towards the stairs.  
"Wait!" Thomas reached him and put himself in front of him, so that he couldn't leave. "I... think you need to know it before you see it".  
"What, Mr. Barrow?" asked Bates, clearly impatient to reach his wife.  
Thomas swallowed again. "I didn't know Anna was expecting... but it looks like she lost it".  
Bates tightened his lips, watching Thomas with something that was close to anger. For a moment, the butler was scared that Bates wanted to punch him; but the valet just left, as quickly as he could. 

Thomas followed him in the servant's hall, where Anna was still crying. Mrs. Hughes made space for Bates, who sat in front of his wife, hugging her.  
"Shhh... don't worry, honey... everything will be fine..."  
"I lost it, John..." said Anna between sobs. "I lost it again! The stitch didn't work! I don't want to do this anymore..."  
"No, love, no. We won't. We will be more careful. We have little Johnnie, we are happy already".  
In that moment, Baxter entered, introducing Dr. Clarkson, that crouched next to Anna. Bates made some space, but kept her hand in his one.  
"I need to visit her," said the doctor to Thomas. "Mr. Barrow, can I have a room with a bed or a sofa?"  
"Yes, yes, definitely... The closest one will be the library, just upstairs".  
"Good. We need to bring her there". 

Thomas nodded and got closer, putting an arm around Anna's shoulders and the other one under her legs. "Sorry, I have to touch you".  
Anna just nodded, wiping her tears. Thomas was surprised at how light she was. He started walking, with Bates and Dr. Clarkson at his sides, ready to help him if he had any problems carrying Anna up the stairs. Thomas knew that the library would be empty; the family was out for the afternoon. And they wouldn't have minded it anyway. Thomas gently put Anna on the sofa, and then nodded to Dr. Clarkson and Bates, before leaving and closing the door. He didn't feel like going anywhere, so he decided to wait in the hallway. He didn't know that Anna was pregnant, but her tears and her desperation had touched him. She was a kind, nice person, and didn't deserve it. After all of her suffering, she only wanted another baby. Why she couldn't have it? Also, form what she was saying, it wasn't the first pregnancy that went wrong for her. It was very unjust.  
After half an hour, Bates came out of the room, and raised his eyebrows at seeing Thomas. "Are you still here, Mr. Barrow?"  
"Yes, Mr. Bates. I was waiting to know if Anna was fine".  
"Oh. That's very kind of you. And I have good news".  
"Really?" asked Thomas, surprised from feeling hopeful and relieved.  
"Yes. Anna didn't lose the baby. It was a threatened miscarriage, but she is still pregnant. However, Dr. Clarkson said that she needs to spend in bed the rest of the pregnancy, and she can't do any work".  
"I'm sure it can be managed".  
"Thank you".  
"I will personally speak to Lord Grantham and Lady Mary, I can't see them objecting to it".  
"Me either. Thank you. And also... Dr. Clarkson said she needs to stay here for at least a couple of days. It could be dangerous to be moved around too much after what happened".  
"Yes, definitely. I'm sure we can find a room".  
"Thank you again". Bates went back in the library, while Thomas started walking towards the stairs, to give the good news to Mrs. Hughes and Baxter. Then, he would have asked the maids to prepare one of the guest rooms.


	2. The baby

Someone knocked on the door, and Bates went to open. With a smile, Thomas entered the room, with a suitcase in his hand.   
"Good afternoon, Mr. Barrow," said Bates, perplexed at the sight of the suitcase.  
"Good afternoon to you, Mr Bates. Mrs. Bates," said Thomas, nodding towards Anna, who smiled at him. She was sitting on the bed, with still her work clothes on.   
"Ah, I brought you just what you needed", said the butler, putting the suitcase on the bed and opening it.   
"I went to your cottage and I fetched some things you might need. Some night clothes, socks, underwear..." Thomas blushed, and lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry, Anna, I swear I didn't look... too much. I just opened the drawer and took some things".   
Seeing the confused faces of Bates and Anna, Thomas decided to explain. "I'm sorry. I know I should have asked for your permission. But Lady Mary wanted everything to be sorted out as soon as possible, and I thought you were resting, so I didn't want to wake you up. Lady Mary gave me the keys to your cottage".  
"Oh, well, that's fine," said Anna, still smiling. "Don't worry, Mr. Barrow, we don't mind. You were very nice in going to get our things".   
"Yes, you were," said Bates. "And we don't have anything hidden in our cottage, anyway".   
Barrow looked reassured. "And since little Johnnie is spending the night here too, I brought something for him. Some toys. There are plenty of toys in the nursery, of course, but maybe he likes having some of his own".   
"That was very kind of you, Mr. Barrow," commented Bates, sincerely moved by the attention that the butler had shown for their kid.  
"Oh, there is another thing," said again Thomas. "Lord and Lady Grantham, and Lady Mary want you to stay here for the whole pregnancy".  
"But..." started Anna, but Thomas raised a hand. "Hear me out. I don't think it's a bad idea, but of course it's your decision. They think it would be better, because you will never be alone here, and Mr. Bates can keep working without having to worry about you being by yourself at the cottage. And even for you, Anna... You would be here close to your husband, and your kid, and close to everyone that can help you with whatever you might need".   
Anna looked at her husband. "It's not a bad idea, after all". Bates smiled. "No, it's not. But I wouldn't want to take advantage of their kindness".   
"You know that even if you tried to refuse, Mr. Bates, they will not accept a no for an answer, right?"  
"Well, in that case..." smiled the valet.   
"It's settled then!" said enthusiastically Thomas, before leaving.

In the next weeks, Thomas kept taking very good care of Anna. He was the one bringing her food, checking multiple times a day if she needed anything, and he also started taking his afternoon tea with her and Bates.   
At first, they were a little perplexed. The relationship between the couple and the butler had been steadily improving since he started his new job at the Abbey, more than a year before. But they didn't expect him to be so involved in Anna's second pregnancy. Maybe it was because he had been present when Anna almost had a miscarriage, maybe because he really, really liked kids.   
Anna and her husband were talking about this on a bright afternoon. Bates didn't have anything to do for the moment, and he was spending some time with his wife. Anna was sitting on the bed, in her candid nightgown, looking happy and relaxed.   
While they were talking, they heard a knock on the door, and Thomas entered with a tray and a fabric bag.   
"So, I brought you some clean nightgowns - he started explaining - and other things you might need. I will take the dirty ones and I'll bring them to the laundry. Here there is some of the amazing chocolate cake that Mrs. Patmore just took out of the oven. I thought you might like to try it".  
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Barrow. You are really kind," said Mr. Bates.   
The butler smiled. "And there is more", said, putting the tray on the night table next to Anna.  
"What?" asked the lady's maid, smiling at him.   
"When I went to your cottage the other day to check if everything was fine, I noticed that Johnnie's crib had the paint a little chipped in some points. So... well, I decided to repaint it. I paint it in white, like it was. I hope you don't mind".   
Bates and Anna looked at each other, surprised. "No, we don't mind", said the valet after a while. "But I don't want you to do so much work for us. It's not right".  
"Oh, I don't worry. I don't have a lot to do in my free time anyway".   
"Thank you, Mr. Barrow," said Anna, with her usual, bright smile. Luckily, she had not have had any more problems, and the pregnancy was going on just fine. "If you keep taking such good care of us, we'll may need to name our baby Thomas, if it's a boy".  
Barrow's face lit up. "Would you really do it?"  
Anna opened her eyes wide, taken aback by the butler's reaction. "Well, I don't know... we haven't really thought about names yet. With everything that happened, I felt like I didn't want to jinx it".  
"It's totally understandable," answered the butler. "But, just keep in mind, that Thomas is a very good name".  
Anna laughed, and Bates smiled. "We promise that we'll keep that in mind, Mr. Barrow". Again, Thomas smiled brightly, before leaving.   
Anna looked at her husband. "What was that?" she asked, still surprised.  
"I'm not sure," said Bates, perplexed. "It looks like Thomas really cares about this baby. Maybe because you felt sick in front of him. I don't know".  
"I was joking, but now I feel guilty. If we don't call the baby like him, he will be so sad".  
"Well, we'll see. With some luck, the baby will be a girl".

It wasn't. Baby Thomas Bates was born at the end of the pregnancy, in a bright morning, after a long labor that lasted all night. Except... that his name wasn't supposed to be Thomas. Anna and Bates had decided for Edward, Eddie for short.   
Right after luncheon, Thomas went to Anna and Bates' room, to bring them some food and other things they might have needed. It was the first time he was seeing them after the delivery, and Anna smiled at him when he saw him. But her smile died right away to leave space to a stunned expression when she saw his pale face and the dark circles under his eyes. "Mr. Barrow! What happened?"  
"Nothing, thanks for asking. I am just a little tired. I didn't sleep, last night".  
"My... It looks like you are the one who delivered the baby, not me", joked Anna.  
Thomas tried to smile. "Almost, yes. Of course, not literally. Let's just say... knowing what was going on here didn't really make me sleep".  
Anna and Bates looked at each other, perplexed. "You were worried," noted Bates.  
"Yes. I was. After what happened with Lady Sybil... every time someone I know has a baby I worry".  
"You look about to pass out," noted Anna, rather perplexed. She clearly didn't expect the butler to be so involved in the birth of her baby.   
"Well, it doesn't matter now," smiled Barrow, in a way that showed his dark circle even more clearly. "What the doctor said?"  
"Everything is fine," said Anna, smiling again. "The baby is healthy and strong, and I am absolutely fine".  
"Oh, that's a relief". With a quick glance to the butler's face, both Anna and Bates could tell he was saying the truth. While Thomas was getting closer to the crib, Anna and her husband looked at each other.   
"So, what's his name?" asked Thomas, openly smiling. Anna and her husband exchanged another glance, in which a lot of silent words were spoken. Then, after a second of hesitation, Bates answered: "Thomas. We decided to call him Thomas".   
The butler turned to look at them, surprised. For a long moment, different emotions passed on his pale and tired face. Shock, incredulity, happiness.   
"Are you... are you sure?" he asked, incapable of stopping the big smile on his face. "I didn't want you to feel like you had to..."  
"No, no, it's not like that," answered quickly Anna.   
"We really liked your suggestion," said Bates, in his usual, calm voice. "You were right. Thomas is a very good name".  
Barrow was so moved that he looked about to cry. He turned again to look at the baby.   
"I... don't know what to say. Thank you. I'm so happy".   
He put a finger in the crib, to gently touch a cheek of little Thomas, who moved his face, but didn't open his eyes. Thomas laughed a little. "I can't believe how cute he is".  
Then, he turned to face the new parents. "Thank you, really. You can't even imagine how important is to me".   
Both Anna and Bates smiled warmly. They knew now that their new addition to the family had a friend for life.


End file.
